Football: Butch Jones' interest in CU Buffs unknown

Cincinnati coach also rumored for Purdue job

Colorado football players haven't had reason to give a head coach a Gatorade bath in more than a decade, but the school might be about to hire a coach who received one Saturday.

Colorado's top candidate to replace Jon Embree appears to be Cincinnati coach Butch Jones, but it's unclear exactly what Jones thinks of CU. Jones led the Bearcats to a share of the Big East Conference title by beating Connecticut 34-17 on Saturday.

"I'm not going to talk about my job status," Jones said in his postgame press conference. "Today is about the kids."

Cincinnati improved to 9-3 and will play in a bowl game later this month, possibly the Belk Bowl in Charlotte n Dec. 27, but whether Jones coaches the game remains to be seen. He is reportedly scheduled to visit Purdue on Sunday to talk with officials there about replacing fired coach Danny Hope. He is scheduled to visit Boulder on Monday.

CU appears to be allowing athletic director Mike Bohn to conduct a search for the next coach without forming a search committee. No committee has been announced by the school a week after former coach Jon Embree was fired.

Bohn has been heavily criticized for his past two football hires -- Dan Hawkins and Embree. CU used search committees to help Bohn in both instances and it also hired local headhunter Chuck Neinas when it hired Hawkins.

Bohn said early in the week that while he has no time table for hiring a coach, he hopes to hire one soon to maximize the amount of time that coach has to recruit. Bohn has not responded to inquiries about the status of the coaching search the past two days.

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Jones might be the most expensive coach in Colorado history if Bohn can convince him to take over a program that went 1-11 this season and has struggled badly under Embree in its first two years in the Pac-12 Conference.

The Buffs haven't had a winning record in seven years and haven't won a bowl game since 2004.

Jones reportedly has a buyout in his Cincinnati contract that would cost CU $1.4 million. CU officials also have said they are willing to pay between $2 and $3 million per year for the right coach. It's likely it would spend another $1.5 million to $2.5 million on assistant coaches.

In total, CU could be looking at committing $5 million a year to Jones and his staff. The price would be higher in the first year because of the buyout. Jones has gone 23-14 in his three years as head coach of the Bearcats.

It might seem like a lot to pay for college football coaches, but CU has been getting off cheap the past two years with Embree, whom it paid roughly $750,000 annually before incentives.

Jones is scheduled to make $1.6 million in 2013 if he remains at Cincinnati.

Jones might be eager to leave Cincinnati because it appears to be stuck in the Big East Conference which will be a league lacking clout and an identity in the coming years as it replaces defectors such as Louisville, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Syracuse with programs such as Boise State, Central Florida, San Diego State and Southern Methodist.

With conference realignment continuing to evolve, there is no predicting what the Big East might look like in two or three years.

Jones flirted with North Carolina, Illinois and UCLA last year but ultimately chose to remain with the Bearcats. He is an offensive coach who runs an up-tempo, no-huddle, pro-style offense. He has previously served as an offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach with experience at a BCS level when he coached two years at West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez, who is now the head coach at Arizona, a fellow member of the Pac-12 south division.

Colorado wants to hire someone with college head coaching experience. It is also believed to be interested in Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall, San Jose State coach Mike McIntyre and Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter.

Bohn could turn to one of those candidates if he is unable to land Jones.